Railroad-switch.



No. 629,8". P atented Aug. I, I899.

- F. L. PEDNEAU.

RAILROAD SWITCH.

(Application filed Apr. 28, 1899.]

(No Model.)

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Y P TENT RAILROAD-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 629,811, dated August 1, 1899.

Application filed April28,189 9.

To all whom it"m'ay concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCOIS LOUIS PED- NEAU, acitizen of the United States, residing at J arretts, in the county of Sussex and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Switches, and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the, same.

This invention relates to railroad-switches, and pertains more particularly to that class of such devices'wherein is employed a hinged rail; and theaim'of the present construction is to provide positive means for establishing a rail connection between a main line and a siding and in part break the continuity of the siding when the switch is open to avoid accidents that might occur byafailure of the guard of the switch to operate and also en tirely clear the main line, and, further, it dis penses with the use of frogs or analogous devices, and thereby reduces the cost of railroad construction generally and at the same time attains the advantagesof a switch without any impairment to the operation of such devices.

The invention, generally stated, consists of I a siding having included therein a hingedrail section whichis adapted to be'thrown over an adjacent main-track rail in establishing a continuity of the said siding and a mergence with the main-track rails when the said siding is connected to the mainline, and also to employ with the said rail-section a preferred form'of chair, as well as hinge-' block, to limit the throw in opposite directions in the opening and closing movements.

The invention further consists of the details of construction and arrangement of parts, which will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan View of ,a portion of a main line and siding, showing the features of the in vention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the hinge-block and a portion of the hinged-rail section. Fig. .3 is a detail perspective view of a preferred form of chair used in connection with the device. Fig. dis an end elevation of the hinge-block.-

Serial mu on model.) i

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the hinged-rail section and shows the part that enters the end of the hinge-block shown by Fig. 4,

Similar characters of reference are utilized to indicate corresponding parts in the several views. .7

The numeral 1 designates a main line, and 2 a siding, thedrawings illustrating that part of these devices where the connection or disconnection of one end of the siding is made with the -main line. It will be understood that the improved device may be applied to the opposite end of the siding, or if the part designated as a siding be a branch line the operation and function of the several parts would be the same.

At the point where the siding and main line come together, as shown by Fig. l, the

base for the working parts, and diagonally disposed on a portion of the said ties 3 is a metallic bed-plate 4, having bolted or otherwise secured'thereto a hinge-block 5, formed sides thereof to increase the base-rest of the same and also afford means for conveniently applying the attaching bolts or fastenings. The end of the said hinge-block 5 farthest from the adjacent main-line rail has a seat 7 formed therein, with'a guard-flange 8, for the purpose of receiving the end of one of the rails of the siding 2, and through the top portion of said hinge-block in a plane parallel with the sides and direction of the bed-plate 4 a groove 9 is constructed for the passage of the wheel-flanges, and injthis connection the top surface on opposite sides of said groove provides abearing-surface for the rim of the "wheels in accordance with the direction of movement of the latter. The end of the hinge block nearest the adjacent main-line rail is formed-with opposite recesses 10 and 11,which are horizontally disposed and separated by an intermediate tongue 12, having slightly- .curved sides. The recess 11. is longer than the recess 10 and is adjacent toavertical substantially circular socket 13, formed in a lat eral extension l iof the; said hinge-block 5. This recessed end of the hinge-block movably receivesone end of a hinged-rail section 15 of suitable or proportionate length, and the end of the section that engages the block has ties 3 are elongated to establish an operatingwith suitable securing-flanges 6 on opposite lar to that of the head of a rail.

flanges 16 and 17, separated by an intermediate vertical slot 18 and located about intermediate the thickness of this part of the section. On a lateral extension of the said connecting end of the hinged section an integral pintle 20 is formed, and to accommodate this formation the hinged-rail section at the location of said flanges and pintle is thickened and widened, as at 21, and through the top thereof extends a groove 22 for the reception of the flanges of the wheels and to provide a proper rail head or hearing for the carwheels. From the thickened and widened portion of the said hinged-rail section an arm 23 is extended and the contour thereof is simi- At the point where the arm 23 begins to extend from the widened and thickened end of said hinged section and on the side adjacent the main-line rail the middle of said thickened and widened portion is cut away at an angle, as shown by dotted lines in Fig.1, so as to constitute a close fitting and permit the arm 23 to pass over said main-line rail i'or establishing the continuity of the siding.

In assembling the hinged-rail section and hinge-block 5 the flanges 16 and 17 and pintle 20, respectively, lit the recesses 11 and 10 and the substantially circular socket 13. The pintle is first slipped into the socket 13 'in a vertical direction, and this step is permitted byreason of the curvature of the adjacent ends of the hinge-block and hinged-rail section, as clearly shown by Fig. 2. When the flanges 16 and 17 are closed in the recesses 11 and 10, the tongue 12 enters the slot 18 between the said flanges, and in operating the 7 said hinged-rail section the fulcrum is formed by the said pintle 20. A disconnection of the two parts in a longitudinal direction is oh Viated by having the walls of the socket 13 extend over the pintle such a distance as tolie beyond the greatest width of the said pintle on opposite sides. The curvature of the opposite sides of the tongue 12 also allows the walls of the slot 18 to unobstructedly clear in the operations of moving the hinged-rail section to open or close the same.

On the end of the bed-plate 4 which is located between the main-line rails a chair 2 1 is secured and has an inner open-sided recess 25 to receive the free end of the arm 23. The outer closed wall or flange 26 of the said recess 25 forms-a stop for the free end of the hinged-rail section 15, and said recess 25 is located in-a central rib 27, which has at its opposite end a similar recess 28, in which is fixed the end of the outer rail of the siding 2. This end of the rail of the siding does not move in the chair, and the inner lines of the hinged-rail section 15 and also said outer siding-rail are continuous with the inner edge of the rib 27 when all the parts are arranged as shown by Fig. 1. The outer rail of the siding 2, which is connected to the chair 2 1-, is gradually elevated by pillow-blocks or analogous devices 29, placed thereunder and inovably rested on the ties. The purpose of these pillow-blocks is to gradually raise the end of the said rail of the siding and lift it to the level of the hinged-rail section, which crosses the inner rail of the main line, so as to overcome any ahruptuess and insure a smooth rolling action of the car-wheels passing thereover. Both rails of the siding are connected adjacent their tapered ends or near those ends which are adapted to merge with the mainline rails by a tie-bar 30 for operating purposes, and one of the ties 3 is widened and extended, as at 31, to provide a switch-base, and thereover movably extends a longitudinally disposed rotatable shaft 32, having cranks 33 at the ends thereof, to which are attached link-rods 34: and 35. The link-rod 34B is connected to the hinged-rail section 15 and the link-rod 25 to the innermost rail of the siding 2, as shown, and to operate the shaft 32 a weighted switch-lever 36 is secured thereto and is adapted to lie on the switchbase 31.

\Vhen operating the switch to open the same, the lever 36 is thrown over in a direction opposite to that shown in Fig. 1, and through the links 34 and 35 the hinged-rail section 15 is drawn toward the innermost rail of the siding 2 and entirely clear of the innermost rail of the main line, and simultaneously the reduced ends of both rails of the siding are cleared from the inner and outer rails of said main line. To limit the forward movement of the hinged-rail section 15, a shoulder 37 is formed on the end of said section adjacent the pintle 20 to bear against a relative part of the block 5, and in addition to the limitation afforded by the chair 24 for the end of the section 15, as heretofore described, the edges of the flanges 16 and 17 bear against the walls of the recesses 11 and 10. From continued use or movement of the hingedrail section 15 itis possible that the said edges of the flanges or the walls of the recesses just referred to may become worn; but anylooseness that might arise from this cause will be prevented from making a corresponding articulation of the said section 15 with the chair 24 through the obstruction set up by the closed wall of the flange 26 at the outer part of the recess 25.

Y The improved structure can be quickly applied in operative position at aminimuin cost, and by the use of the same a very material saving ensues by virtue of the comparatively small amount of material utilized.

To accommodate various applications and to compensate for contingencies that might arise, changes in the proportions, dimensions, and minor details of construction could be resorted to without in the least departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. In a railroadswitch, the combination bed-plate having a hinge-block mounted.

thereon and provided at one end with recesses horizontally disposed and separated by an intermediate tongue and a lateral extension having a vertical socket, a hinged rail having an enlarged end with flanges separated by an intermediate vertical slot and provided also with a lateral extension terminating in an integral pintle,the said rail-section being adapted to movably fit the hinge-block, a chair having a seat at one end to receive the free end of the hinge-rail, and means for operating said hinged rail.

2. In a railroad-switch, the combination With a main line, of siding-rails, a bed-plate, a hinge-block on the bed-plate having a recessed end with a tongue between the recesses a hinged rail having an enlarged end witha pintle to fit the socket in the hinge-block and a recess to receive the tongue of the latter; a chair having opposite guarded seats, one of which forms a support for the free end of the hinged rail and elevated to accommodate the position of the said hinged rail across one of the main-line rails; and means for operating the hinged rail;

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANCOIS LOUIS PEDNEAU. Witnesses:

L. E. KINsLY, P. W. TURNER; 

